Natural products - back in vogue

The study of the chemistry of natural products can be dated to the start of the 19th century with the isolation and characterisation (but not structure elucidation) of morphine (1815), quinine (1820) and atropine (1833). These faltering first steps can be contrasted with recent total chemical syntheses of complex marine natural products like the spongistatins (1) (by Steven Ley and his team at the University of Cambridge in 2005), which are remarkable for their elegance and efficiency, and also because they have provided gram quantities of these anticancer agents for pre-clinical evaluation.